Sep. 16, 2016, 9:00 a.m.

Death row at San Quentin State Prison. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

More than half of voters oppose a November ballot measure that would abolish the California death penalty, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll conducted by SurveyMonkey.

Proposition 62, which would replace capital punishment with life without parole, had 40% support among the 1,909 registered voters polled in September across the state. Nine percent had no answer.

It is one of two measures on the future of the death penalty that voters will weigh on Nov. 8. Both capital punishment initiatives would require current death row inmates to work and pay restitution to victims but take opposing approaches to what the measures both call a broken system.

Sep. 30, 2016, 5:31 p.m.

Gov. Jerry Brown allowed a bill to become law Friday without his signature. (Lenny Ignelzi / Associated Press)

In a rare move, Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday he was allowing a bill increasing penalties for possession of date-rape drugs to become law without his signature.

Brown normally signs bills he supports or vetoes them if he doesn't, but bills can become law if the governor fails to act by Friday’s midnight deadline. The governor's representatives declined to explain his decision, but Brown has in the past been reluctant to approve bills that added to prison overcrowding.

The measure by Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton) targets drugs that cause victims to become completely incapacitated, leaving them with no memory of their assault.

Protections to keep domestic violence survivors' addresses confidential will be standardized under a bill the governor signed Friday.

The new law will also apply to people who have been sexually assaulted or stalked and reproductive healthcare providers. It will prohibit people, businesses and associations from publishing the addresses of people protected under the law who have requested that their addresses be kept confidential.

The bill, authored by Assemblywoman Catharine Baker (R-San Ramon), will also require the California Secretary of State's office to provide those protected under the law with information about how to keep their addresses private.

Sep. 30, 2016, 5:17 p.m.

Gov. Jerry Brown refused on Friday to extend parental leave requirements to Californians who work for some of the state's smallest businesses, saying he worried about the plan's impact.

In his final bill actions for the year, Brown vetoed Senate Bill 654 and its mandate of six weeks of unpaid leave for mothers or fathers at businesses that employ between 20 and 49 workers.

Current job protections for workers with new children are focused on businesses of at least 50 employees. The bill would have given these employees access to the state's paid family leave program, with subsidies that are paid for through worker paycheck deductions.

Sep. 30, 2016, 4:10 p.m.

Thirty-eight years ago, lawyer Ron Briggs and his father wrote the ballot initiative that brought the death penalty back to California. They worked tirelessly to get it passed, gathering petition signatures and mailing out literature.

But in a new online ad airing this weekend in support of Proposition 62, the November ballot measure that would abolish the practice, he tells viewers he made “a big mistake and you have been paying for it ever since.”

“I thought we’d save money,” he says in the ad. “Instead, we have wasted $5 billion on just 13 executions.”

Sep. 30, 2016, 4:00 p.m.

Attorney Bryan Caforio, left, incumbent Steve Knight and Los Angeles police Lt. Lou Vince take part in a debate for the 25th Congressional District seat on May 5 in Newhall. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Lou Vince, an L.A. police lieutenant who finished third in the 25th Congressional District's primary contest this June, crossed party lines Thursday and said he will vote for Republican Congressman Steve Knight over Democratic lawyer Bryan Caforio in the heated congressional race that national Democrats are targeting as a potential seat pick-up.

In a letter sent to reporters Thursday, Vince said while he wants Democrats to win back Congress, Caforio is new to the district and "isn't a member of this community and certainly doesn't reflect the values of our district."

Vince, who said he was asked to drop out of the race by Democratic Party leaders when Caforio entered, complimented Knight for his military service and career with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Sep. 30, 2016, 12:58 p.m.

Distributing secret recordings involving healthcare conversations will become a crime in California in 2017, under a new law inspired by the high-profile case involving videos of Planned Parenthood employees discussing abortion procedures.

Gov. Jerry Brown's signature on Assembly Bill 1671 came after last-minute changes to the bill seeking to ensure journalists wouldn't be prosecuted for the use of video, audio or transcripts they are given but did not help to record.

Existing law focuses on the illegal nature of the recording itself, not what happens to any copies of the recording.

Sep. 30, 2016, 12:00 p.m.

Giant electronic billboards are seen at the Citadel outlet shopping center in Commerce along the 5 Freeway in 2005. (Los Angeles Times)

More electronic billboards could be allowed in downtown Los Angeles under a new law signed Friday by Gov. Jerry Brown that community activists charge will add to visual blight in the city core.

The controversial bill allows developers to erect several giant electronic billboards around the $1-billion Metropolis high-rise project in downtown Los Angeles as long as they also are allowed by the city.

The measure is opposed by Dennis Hathaway, president of the Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight, who said it will create an atmosphere of flashing, changing electronic signs like Times Square in New York City and cause a dangerous distraction for motorists on nearby streets and the 110 Freeway. He also said it would create an eyesore.